Method and apparatus for building tire beads



May 20, 1930. w. c. STEVENS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRE BEADS r 4 SheetsSheet 1 Filed 001:. 11. 1926 INVENTOR.

mu C TEVEIY$ ATTORNEY.

. May 20, 1930. w. c. STEVENS METHOD AND APPAliA'fUS FOR BUILDING TIRE BEADS Filed Oct. 11, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR. ML mm C. 575 rsns GTAQQ -May 20, 1930. w, c, STEVENS 1,759,669

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRE BEADS Filed 001'.- 11. 1926 4 Shets-Sheet 5 I N VEN TOR MAM/ M ('3 Srsh-wg ATTORNEY.

May 20, 1930. w. c. STEVENS 1,759,669

METHOD AN D APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRE BEADS Filed Oct. 11, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I N VEN TOR.

MAL/6M7 grsrslvi ATTORNEY.

, machine disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 36,898, filed June 13, 1925,

-t wire on-the drum. v

Patented May 20, 1930 MM Erica WILLIAM cjs'rnvnns gfor AKRON, onio, Assrenoa TO THE rinnszroivurrrnn AND RU BER COMPANY, or AKRON, OHIO, A eoRronA'rIon or onro Y METHOD'LANi) APPARATUS non BUILDING TIRE BEADS Application filed. October 111, was. Serial N'o.'140,804.

This invention relates to procedure and apparatus for bullding beadslfor use in pneumatic tires and particularly to methods and apparatus for building complete green or unvulcanized beads adapted to' be mounted into tires as such and to be cured in the tires, this-invention being an improvement on the Important general objects of the invention are to provide an improved'procedure for ,building tire beads, and an'improved apparatus for quickly, uniformly and cheaply carrying out the's te'ps of the procedure.

One object is to provide apparatus compris ing a novel drum constructed to turn the bead flipper fabric about the beadwire and filler. l, Another object is to-provide means for guiding a covering and bead. flipper fabric onto saidf'drum'.

Another object is'to provide means for guidingbead wire onto the fabric on the drum.

Another'object' is to provide a devicefor guiding andapplyinga bead'ifiller onto the Another object istoprovide spinners or stitchers for forming "the"flip per on said,

bead by operations on said fabric. 7

The foregoing and other objects willbe more readily", understood" as the following descriptionis read in connection with the accompanying drawings, it being understood that the invention is not limited to the specific form thereof shown and described.

Of the accon'ipanying.drawings, r Figurel is a front elevation of a machine embodyingand adapted carry out the, in-

vention Figure 2is a transverse vertical section thereof A v A g a Figure 3is a rear elevation of a part there f;,". v

Figure 4 isaplan of said part thereof;

Figure 5 is a detail of the fabric attaching means;

Figures Band 7 are detailsections ofthe drum illustrating progressivelythe steps of the bead-building on; j I

Figures 8 and 9 are detail elevation and plan views respectively, of the stitcher blades illustrating their operation on the flipper fabric; a

Figure 10 is a perspective view illustrating a portion of a completed bead; and,

Figure 11 is a rightend elevation of means for winding, the liner fabric.

T Referring to the drawings, lOrepresents a standard-having journaled therein at 11 a shaft 12', on one'end of; whichis secured a drum-13 later to be more fully described,

and on the other end of which is seeured'a process performed therefriction driven pulley 14L. Arrangedto drive pulley 1a is a friction roller 15 journaled on Roller 15 is rotatively secured to a'sprocket 23" a spindle 1'6 carried by a bracket 17 pivoted on a tubularbushing 19 journaled at 20 in.

having trained thereover a chain 24 which is 1' i also trained over a drive sprocket 25fs'ecured on shaft l9 'journaled in bushing 19. Roller 21 is rotatively connected to a gear 26 meshed with a gear 27 secured on shaft19f. Shaft 19 4 also has thereon a gear 28 meshed with a gear 29 on the shaft of a motor 30 for driving rollers 15 and 21 in reverse directions and at different speeds. I V

In order to engage either. roller 15 or roller 21 with friction pulley 14, bracket 17 is v connected by a link 31 to an arm 32 on a rock T shaft 33, adapted to be rocked'in one direc tion or the other to engage one drive roller or the other with pulley liby means of-a double pedale'd' lever 3 1 secured at its center on shaft 33 and having pedal 35 on one end and a pedal 35 onthe other.

v A belt pulley 36 is attached toshaft 12"and has trained thereover a belt 37-, which in turn engages pulley 38, as shownin Figure 11, and operating as a means for winding the fabric liner 39which is used to separate the layers of the flipper fabric on the supply roll 40 mounted' on anangu'larly adjustable stand- A ard 11. Pulley'38 is adapted to drive clutch members 42, 42; the latter being brought into and out of engagement by lever 43. When I bar 62secured on one side thereof and aguide' the clutch inembers are in engagement, they rotate the liner fabric reel l lrunto which the liner fabric 39 is fed from guiding plate l5 mounted on standard 41'. I r

Asibestlshown n Figure 2,the drum spiderarin's47, 47 "which "in turn are formed I on a central hub 48 secured on shaft 12. Arms 47 are each slotted as at49, 4'9 andsl1dably mounted on-each arm are segments 50and" 51 arranged inpairson opposite sides of the 7 fixed portion 46 of drum l3. Segments 50 and 51 are secu'redin -pairs to move together units by means of bolts 52, 52 passing through c'oi' l 1 i stantiajll v sn'iooth comparativelybroad flatslots 4.9 and having anti-frictionrollers 53,

thereon enga mng inthe slots 49 toguide i V movementsof the segments. Segments :50

aud'5l are so formed'that when in collapsed ition they form with portion 6 a subsurface drum (Figure 6). lVhenexpanded ingthe "covering 'fand tlipper fabric 'about the wire and filler ofthe bead (Figure 6) Expansion and contraction of segments 50 and 51- are accomplished by adj ustable toggle "levers 54, secured'to segments 50 and 51 and to a central collar} 55 shiftable'on shaft 1-2'by, means 0-i a;y01 s56 (Figures '1 and 2) i pivoted onbrackets 57 and operablebyahand '.lever"58., "Through the 'center of the face of each of the outer segments 5l', near theirouter margins, v, are .mounted countersunk spring-L V pressed bolts 59" for a purpose which will I i jontable87. I I,

The flipper stitchers 'compriseone Vs'titch er later appear;

The flipper fabric guiding device iconsis ts i I 1 in a guide plate 60 having a hinged portion so 'tial y V I swung upwardlyas indicated by the dotted Q totheperipheryiof drum 13 or tobe lines in F igure 1. The plate 60 has a guide bar 63 adjustably secured on the other side thereof between which the flipper fabric indicated at Get may be properly guided onto ilruin 13; Rod .65 is arranged transversely at the endof hinged guide plate port-ion 60 *on rod and will be thus held between thebars,

" therod being 66,66., 1 w V I Tofe'ed the'bea'd wireindicated zit-67', which is usually in the form a fiat tape of braided 7 wire which has been rubberized, onto the fab- ;"ic64 on drum 1 3 overjth'e portion 46 of said 'J drun1,a roll 68 for guiding-the wire from the- V supply reel 69, is mountedlon a standard 70 g m device arrangedadjacent standard 10.; A guiding 1S employed to guide the wire onto which 1s arranged, to rotate in the 7 13includes a fixedcentralportion formed on "Figure 1 or into vided by idler pulleys' 84, 84'.

held in place thumb-screws through a perforationfin hinged guiding member 73' pivoted to brackets 70?. Spring T4 is adapted to hold guiding member 573 either out of operative position as shown-in guiding position as indicated by the dotted lines; g mounted on a shaft 75'journ'aled in standard The supply reel is 75 and as the beadwire 67 is unwoundthere from,the strip of fabrie-orliner 77 which is used to separate the layers'of'the wire; is

wound onto reel 78,*being guided thereonby a 78 is supported bya shaft/8O journaled inthe upper end of standard 7 6 and on this shaftis is carried over pulley 8-3 mountedon shaft 75 for rotation of -reelv69, so that rotation of'reel 69::causes reel 78 to rot-ate and wind up the I liner'77. Proper tensionon belt-82 isgproi The filler strip applying device consists of a.) 1 an arm 85 journaledin standard 86 whichis I mountedon a' table 87supported by standard? "10, said arm being adapted to beswung so that its end moves intheplaneof'rot'ation of drum 18. v The bracket 88 on the outerendof 'a'rm85 is provided with a guiding grooveandi- 1 a roller 89; The guiding groove 1s shaped to 5 of the fillerstripj 90,,the'saidgroove being covered by a'platei9l attached by thumbconforinto the cross-sectionalconfiguration1 I naled on bracket ,Qwhich in'turn-is mounted I blade formed with" a beveled edge96-an l carriedby a slide 97 operable a. handle 9811 i in a guide-99 secured on table 87, andfa ,sec-

transversely of drum l8 sea slight anglei'due to thevsetting of guide'113 on platefgllfl,

, Blade 95 is normallyadaptedto'lieagainst V I 1 the surface of dru1n 1 3 soasto pass under" I v guidehars 52 and 63 so that the fabric passing i over the guideplate 60 will pass under the I the flipper fabric in the manner illustra ted in .Fig'ure 7, but is also adapted to? spring upwardly to pass over thedouble thickness of; II I 1 fabric which is formed on drum 1-3 to; prof "'vide the flipper of'the head Blade lQOfis' adaptedto be swung into a positionjjl'lst fore ter is advanced,fas illustrated'by dotted lines in Figure land in Figure-9. The bev eled' downwardly turned edge lOl is adapted face of said filler. I

l ward of that takenby blade "95 when tho lat- 8U" suitable level-wind mechanism 7 9, 79, Reel, IiI

' ric on the drum, the position of the wire on The method-and operation of'the apparatus is carried out by first feeding a strip of biascut rubberized fabric 64- of the proper width onto drum 18, segments 50 and 51 being contracted to the level of'the periphery of central portion 46 and a forward cornerof the fabric'beingcaught under the head of springpresse'dbolt 59 (Figureb). Roller 15 is employed to drive the drum slo'wly'in a connte'rclockwise "direction to apply the fabric, the latter being drawnonto the drum and accuratelyguided thereon by its passage over guideplate 60 between bars '62and 63 and under rod When a complete convolution of fabric has been applied, rotation of the drum is stopped, clutch members 42, 42 disengagechand the fabric -cut to the proper length to' form a the drum. l i d Guiding member 73 is next swung downwardly to apply the bead wire 6'? over the fabthe fabric being directly over central portion tion on the other until the proper number, in

46 of the drum. Driving of drum 1?) counterclockwise slowly 1s resumed, and the'bead w1re is drawn onto the drum 13 one convoluthe present case illustratedythree complete convoluti'ons have been applied, Drum 13 convolution of the filler strip has been drawn onto the bead wire, the drum 13 is stopped,

the strip cutythe applying device swung up out-of operative position and the'ends of the convolution spliced together on the bead wire.

The succeeding operation consists inturning the covering and flipper fabric outwardly I 7 about the bead wire and fillerr This is accomplished by firstrapidly rotatingdrum l3 clockwise by means of roller 21 and operating lever 58 to urge collar forwardly from the position shown in Figure 2 whereby toggles 54 will expand segments 50 and 51. Centrifugal force; due to the rapid rotation of the drum l3, greatly assists the expansion of segments'50 and 51 so that comparatively slight pressure is required on lever 58. When this operation is complete, the drum 13 is stopped and the work is in the condition shownin Figure 7. I

The final operation of forming the bead is accomplished by rapidly rotating the expand ed drum clockwise and by comparatively slowly swinging stitcher 100 transversely of slightly lapped splice on the drum, first engagingedg'e'lOl underthe 7 forward edge of the flipper fabric and passing the stitcher under the fabric until the lat-- ter is stitched against the vertical edge of the projecting fillerstrip and the fabric is expandedto the level ofthe periphery of the strip.- WVhile stitcher 100 is heldin position under the expanded fabric, .stitche'r -is slowly moved trar'isversely of'the drum by means of handle 98 (Figure l) As shoiwhin Figure 7, the blade 95 first engages under the rear edge of the flipper fabric and passes forwardly thereunder, separatingit from the drum. When the stitche'r blade 95 engages the rear edge of the bead material in the groove of the drum 13, the rear portion of: the flipper fabric on segments 50 iscaused suddenly to swing about the rear corner of the ward expanded portion of the flipperon segforward transverse feeding of blade and cooperation of the latter with stitcher 100 to engage the two margins of the fabric there between, stitches the rear portionof the flip bead over the bead'wiresand onto the foras ments 51. Continued rotation of drum 18 and 1 per fabric in place over the bead wires and onto the forward expanded portionof the flipper fabric to provide the bead flipper.

{This-operation is illustrated in igure9. It

will be notedthat blade 109 will yieldsuflt} ciently to pass over the beadwithout desti"'of ing the covering and flipper fabric.

completed bead on in Figure 8. Removal of the bead from drum 13 is efthe drum is illustrated fected' by operating lever 58'tocollapse 's egments 50and 5i whereupon the head is slipped forwardly axially over segments 50; A ee The l tion of completed bead when removed. fr'onf the drum is illustrated in'Fignre 10 It will 1105-- be noted that the fiipper will have contracted inwardly at'its forward edge, due to the p tendency of the fabric to return to its original non-stretched condition. 7 I It will appear from theforegoing that aptire beads for use in p'enulnatic tire casings.

110 plicant has devised an exceedinglysimple and effect ve device for rapidly turning out It will also appear that an effective and practical method of building head's has been de-* vised which include thesteps of forming" transversely flat band of fabric, applyingconvolutions of core forming material including the wire and filler tothc band internie- I diate of its edges, stretching the band out wardly about the core to cover the sides there ing it against theside of the core, and turnof, expanding vo neside of the band and stitching the other side of the band over the bead and stitching it in place ontothe band on the first named'side of the bead to complete covering the core and to form the flap. Modifi cations of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims. v

1; Apparatusffor. building beads compris rotatable drumhavinga fixed; peripheral portion "and expansible portions on each a strip of fabric onto said drum, saidimeans including-a gu de plate having spaced guidebars relatively. adjustable thereon and a cross I101 Y drunysaid means including spaced brackets betweeiiwliioh the material passes and rollers rod overlying saidplatermeans for guiding, ll stllp'bf,COi'QifOIIIllIlQ material onto sand 7 between thebrajckets over which the, material passes means for applying affillje'r strip on the; drum, said; means including; a grooved roller, movable onto or away from the drum and means for supplying the filling; strip to said roller means for expandingor contract ing the ,expansibl'e' portions of the drum;

" meansfor expanding one side of the fabric "aga nst the side of the core and means for;

turning the otherl sidcof the band overthe core ontothe first named side thereof,-said two means including stitcher blades movabletransversely over the surfaceo f the drum from opposite sidesftl1ere0f; and means for driving thefdrumfat different speeds, said ineansjincluding;a, friction pulley and friction'rollers continuously driven at difierent speeds movable interdependently toward and from the friction pulley'or to a neutralpo- V s'ition. g V r Apparatus for bulldingbeads commas-,

ing a rotatable drum having a fixed peripheral portion and expansible portions on 5 each side of saidffixed portion, means for guiding" posite' sides thereof. 7

drumacrossithe groove therein; and from op- V a'rhs method of making'beadsfcompris ing disposing a band of fabric'into. cyl'in'dri-j I cal form, shap nga peripheral groove in said band,,apply1ng a core onthe band so that it a will lie in the'groove, rapidly rotating the band, expanding'the ,fabric on one side of the groove and moving the other edge of the; V fabric transversely of the bandandfacross the groove While said band isrrapidly rotat-" ing tostitchthe fabric about the; core and of thelband. V

16. Inbead building 1y fiatsegmental drum, adapted to'havea onto the expanded fabric on the othersi'de v Iapparatus, normalfabric band applied about its'peripheryjand expansible to providef'a peripheral groove intermediate its edges for locatingoavcore on 7 s5"; movable over the drum from one-side thereof the drum about saidfabric band,- astitcher to'expand one side of the fabricband'against 5 the side of the coreand a stitcher- -movablet from the other side ofthe drum-across the,

groove to fold the other side ofth fabricj around the coreand cooperable with the first named stitcher to stitch togetherthe two sides ofrthe fabric band. YVILLIAM CC.

- a strip otfabriconto said drum,fmeans 01;

guiding a strip ofcore forming material onto 1 V Jsaid; drum, meansg-forappl'ying 'a filler strip 7 V Q40;

't'r'aeting; the expansible portions of: the drum,

on thedrum, means for expanding j or con- 7 means forexpanding .one'side of the band against thefside of the core; means for turn? ing the other side of the band overvthe core onto the first named 'side thereofi and means I for} driving .thedrum at different speeds.

or 3. Apparatus for building beads 'comprising a rotatablerdrum having a fixed periphrj i to ' contracting the expansible'portions of the f V drum, means for e'xpandi'ng one side'oi' the era-l portion and expansible portions on each side ofsaid fixed portions, -means for guid; ing ais'trip of fabric ontosa id drum, means for; guiding, a strip of core :foianing mater al ontosaiddrum, means for expanding or:

band against the sideof the core, means 'for turning the other side of the band over the coreontothe firstjnamed side thereof, and a, 651 means for drivingth druiniat different speeds.

head building'apparatuga havin e peripheralgroove therein, the drum on I either side of the groovebeing contractile to form asubstantiallyflat surfaced drum, and V {I stitchers mova'bl'eiover the' surface of the;

. s vEss; r 

